Research on digital ecosystems: current state, trends and directions of development

T.W. Mawugatie, E.V. Korchagina

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Abstract: Digital ecosystems as an emerging concept are a critical component of the modern digital economy and have attracted the attention of many scholars and practitioners.
Aim. The study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications in the field of digital ecosystems based on 250 articles indexed in the international scientific citation database Scopus for the period from 2014 to 2025.
Research methods. Bibliometric analysis has been conducted using the Bibliometrix-Biblioshiny package in the R programming language.
Results. The analysis reveals a significant increase in the number of published scientific articles in the field of digital ecosystems research since 2018, demonstrating growing scientific interest in this topic. Geographic distribution exposes that Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain lead in the number of scientific publications in the field of digital ecosystems. The leading journal in this field is Sustainability Journal. The study’s results identified the most significant scholars who have published papers on digital ecosystems with the highest citation rates. The study also identified the most frequently used keywords and the logical relationships between them. An analysis of keyword co-occurrence patterns discovered seven main thematic clusters in the field.
Conclusions. The growing number of publications in the field of digital ecosystems indicates that digital ecosystems are a relevant and important topic for science, attracting the interest of a large number of researchers.

Keywords: digitalization, digital ecosystems, bibliometric analysis, Bibliometrix, Biblioshiny

For citation. Mawugatie T.W., Korchagina E.V. Research on digital ecosystems: current state, trends and directions of development. News of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of RAS. 2026. Vol. 28. No. 1. Pp. 210–223. DOI: 10.35330/1991-6639-2026-28-1-210-223

©   Mawugatie T.W., Korchagina E.V., 2026

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Information about the authors

Temeselew W. Mawugatie, Postgraduate Student of the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University;
29, Polytechnicheskaya street, Saint Petersburg, 195221, Russia;
temesel2007@gmail.com
Elena V. Korchagina, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Assistant Professor, Professor of the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University;
29, Polytechnicheskaya street, Saint Petersburg, 195221, Russia;
elena.korchagina@mail.ru, SPIN-code: 8556–2270

Funding

The study was performed without external funding.